Lozano’s goal set off such a commotion that seismic detectors in Mexico City registered a false earthquake.<\/b>
\nThousands of exuberant Mexican soccer fans took to the streets Sunday to cheer their national team\u2019s long-shot win against Germany in Mexico\u2019s first match of the 2018 World Cup soccer tournament.
The 1-0 stunner, with Hirving Lozano scoring the winning goal, has given Mexicans hope that their team might win the tournament for the first time ever. Mexico has competed in the FIFA World Cup since the sporting event kicked off in 1930. The highest it has ever advanced is to the quarter-finals, placing sixth in both 1986 and 1970.
Lozano\u2019s goal set off such a commotion that seismic detectors in Mexico City registered a false earthquake, which the geological institute said may have been generated by \u201cmassive jumps\u201d across the city. Spectators who had gathered to watch the match on a big TV screen in the central Zocalo square screamed with joy after the score.
A small artificial earthquake detected in Mexico City \u201cpossibly due to mass jumping\u201d when Mexico scored against Germany https:\/\/t.co\/9arKFZHORU
\u2014 Kirk Semple (@KirkSemple) June 17,2018 https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js
After the match, throngs of fans dressed in green converged around the iconic Angel of Independence monument, bouncing with joy and waving the Mexican flag. Small groups chanted \u201cMexico\u201d and \u201cYes we could!\u201d Some broke into song, including the traditional Cielito Lindo tune best known for its \u201cAy, Ay, Ay\u201d chorus. Car horns blared, whistles were blown and drums beat for hours after the match.
\u201cWe aspire to win a World Cup this time,\u201d said Miguel Paez, a 31-year-old who donned a Mexican wrestling mask in the colors of the national flag as he celebrated on Mexico City\u2019s main avenue, Paseo de la Reforma.
Paez described the game as a welcome distraction from Mexico\u2019s upcoming July 1 presidential election. \u201cMexico needs a break. Mexico needs to shout,\u201d he said, jumping up and down.
Some Twitter commentators and fans were quick to draw parallels between the Mexican team\u2019s long odds ahead of the Germany match and the big lead in surveys enjoyed by leftist presidential candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, or AMLO.
\u201cAMLO can be beat. The surveys are based on few people,\u201d said Jose Antonio Bohon, a 51-year-old national team supporter on his way to the Angel.
The win has also helped Mexican fans move beyond the team\u2019s recent indiscretions.
The Mexican squad entered the 2018 tournament under a cloud of scandal. The problems began last year when the US Treasury Department accused team captain Rafael Marquez of being a front man for a drug kingpin. The accusation cost Marquez sponsorships and called into question whether he would play in the tournament. Marquez took to the field toward the end of Sunday\u2019s match against Germany, notching his fifth appearance in a World Cup.
Also, earlier in June, gossip magazine TVNotas reported that nine members of the Mexican squad indulged in an all-night party with 30 female escorts following their farewell match against Scotland in Mexico City. Commentators worried that family tensions could distract the players from their goal of winning World Cup matches.
\u201cThey\u2019ve always done things like that,\u201d 53-year-old fan Magdalena Martinez said Sunday of the partying Mexican players. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t my boyfriend or my husband, so as long as they continue to play well, who cares.\u201d<\/p>\n

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